A Halloween at Otonokizaka
by Roxius
Summary: A two-shot, second chapter coming on Halloween day. The nine members of Muse gather at their school for a massive Halloween party, all of them dressing up as various monsters or characters, some taking more seriously than others. However, it is on that night that Nico learns something unexpected about her lover, that would test her relationship to its limit. MakiNico. Please R & R!
1. Chapter 1

Walking hand in hand together, Maki and Nico of the school idol group Muse made their way to the school grounds on that chilly October night, dressed as a demon and a vampire respectively for Otonokizaka's annual Halloween party. It was Maki's first time going and only Nico's second; she'd skipped the party during her first year out of childish spite, but had since eased up. Nico reached into her mouth and readjusted the plastic fangs clinging to her upper teeth, trying to get them to keep from slipping out. She was dressed like an older depiction of a vampire, with the black cloak and ruffled cravat. Instead of her usual pigtails, Nico had gotten Kokoro to use hair gel to mold it, making her pigtails resemble makeshift horns.

Maki made a face seeing Nico's dripping saliva get all over her fingers. "That's gross. Don't stick your fingers in your mouth."

"I'm trying to fix these damn fangs! It said on the box that they are supposed to fit snugly! This isn't 'snug' at all! If I'm not careful they're going to drop into the dirt, and then I'll have wasted 320 yen!"

"Why don't you just ditch the fangs? You don't need them. Just tell everyone you're dressed as a vampire's thrall or something. They're not going to question it."

"But I wanted to be a vampire! And I don't even know what a thrall is!"

"I'm sure your fangs will be fine if you stop fiddling with them." Maki shook her head. "Whether you're a vampire or a thrall, you're still too cute to actually terrify anyone."

"M-Maki!" Nico looked deeply touched, her eyes practically sparkling with little stars all around them.

"I was just making an observation, idiot! D-Don't get all sappy about it...!"

Nico shrugged. She looked over her girlfriend's attire; in spite of being so wealthy, the redhead had chosen a rather ordinary idea for a costume. A pair of black horns atop her head, a red jumpsuit, a slender forked tail and cute little wings on her back. It was as typical a look of a demon as anyone could manage to think up. Maybe she had gotten help from her mom with the design, because it certainly looked like it had a parent's touch to it.

Nico sniffed. "You look pretty cute in your get-up too."

"Hmph...thanks..." Maki puffed out her cheeks a little. Nico thought that was adorable too.

The two of them both sighed. They really should have asked Kotori for pointers on how to make their costumes better. Dressing up for Halloween shouldn't have been nearly on the same level of difficulty as deciding outfits for a new Live, but apparently they were situations on a similar wavelength. Still, Maki and Nico hoped to impress. As they approached the school, they could see the lights were on and the gates were opened. People were spilling in, dressed in a variety of costumes, some as characters and monsters from their native homeland, or from cultures abroad. This party was open mainly to students of the school, but friends and family were also allowed to attend as guests.

"You should have brought your siblings! They would have probably had a lot of fun!" Maki remarked.

"Are you crazy? I couldn't bring them here! My mom would have a fit if they were out past their bedtime! Besides..." Nico squeezed Maki's hand a little. "I wouldn't want them to have to distract me from you."

"Maybe it's good I don't have any siblings to drag along myself..."

The pair slipped inside, excusing themselves past the line of guests waiting at the gate. The party itself was already in full force when they entered the modified gymnasium. There were people dancing, people chatting, people drinking punch and eating bat and pumpkin-shaped cookies prepared by the baking club. There were orange and purple lights on a stage set up near the eastern end of the room, but no one was performing yet. Nico led Maki along, holding her hand the entire time, as they searched for the other members of Muse among the crowd.

"Maki! Nico! You made it, nya!"

Rin and Hanayo spontaneously emerged from within the waves of people and ran over to Nico and Maki.

"Wow, your costumes look really cute, nya! Your hair looks great, Nico! And Maki, we can practically see your boobs in that thing, nya!"

"Ah!" Maki threw up her hands to her chest; she knew she'd forgotten something to complain about when her mother made the outfit.

Nico took a defensive step in front of her lover. "Hands-off, Rin!"

"Ha ha ha ha! I was just kidding, nya! Anyway! What do you think of OUR costumes, nya?"

Nico looked them up and down. "Yeah...what are you two supposed to be, anyway?"

Rin jabbed a thumb at the cat ears on her head and then at the colorful water gun she held in her hands. She wore a dirty white t-shirt and roughened blue jeans as well. "Can't you see, nya? I'm the cat-girl who's gonna save the space colony from the evil alien menace! Bang, bang! I wanted to be a cat-girl, but I thought of putting a neat twist on it, nya!"

"You've been watching too many American movies," Nico shook her head.

"What about you, Hanayo?" Maki asked.

Hanayo had this sort sheepish wince on her face. She was dressed like some sort of Greek goddess, complete with toga and a wreath of olive leaves on her head. In one arm she held a plastic model of a wooden bucket filled to the brim with white rice. "I'm...I'm the Goddess of the Harvest...well, of grains...okay, I'm supposed to be the Goddess of Rice!"

Maki and Nico stared.

"I-I know it's kind of...of uncool, but I really like rice, and I had wanted to dress up as something cute, but I knew a giant rice grain or a rice-ball would look stupid, so I did what I could think up, okay?"

"We're not judging you, Hanayo." Nico replied.

"Yes, that's right! You look rather cute in that toga, but it must be rather chilly walking outside in that." said Maki.

Hanayo rubbed her arm. "Y-Yes...it is a little...cold out tonight, isn't it...? Oh, I should have just gone as an alpaca..." She had really wanted to be Elsa most of all, but she didn't have the long hair for it, and the wig would have been too itchy.

"Have you seen the others anywhere?"

"Eri and Nozomi are over by that table getting some snacks, nya. I don't think Honoka, Kotori or Umi are around yet, but Hanayo said she got a text that they'd be here soon."

"Hmph. Always making us wait, that girl! Maki, do you want to go see Eri and Nozomi?"

"Sure. We'll be back in a little bit!" Maki waved to the other two first-years as Nico took her hand and led her away. "Hey, hey, don't be so rough..."

"I'm not being rough. I need to see what costumes those two are wearing!"

"Why? What's the big deal?"

"I...I don't want to look like the one with the worst costume!"

"You already have a better costume than Hanayo or Rin, and why does it matter?"

"It's a girl thing, you wouldn't understand." Nico said, and before Maki could protest, she continued, "And it's my fellow third-years that I consider the real threat in this contest!"

Maki's thoughts wandered away from that bit of foolishness and began looking to the future, namely the time tonight that she would finally confess to Nico. She wondered if she was doing the right thing, planning to go through with it tonight of all nights. She had been meaning to tell Nico for so long, and she wanted to tell her when it was most appropriate, and looking as she did right now, it seemed like the most appropriate time for a number of reasons. Maki reached up and nervously thumbed one of the horns on her head; she needed to know what Nico would think of her if she knew the real her. The person that she actually wasn't.

"There they are!" Nico said.

Eri was holding a cup, alternating between sipping it and eating a cookie she held in her other hand. Nozomi was saying something to her, but within the din of sound surrounding them on all sides, her words were unable to be heard. Nico and Maki approached them, and Nico was the first to tap on the Half-Russian blonde's shoulder.

"So what are you two supposed to be?"

Eri's blonde hair, as it so happened, was hidden underneath a wig, a red, messy bob-cut, and she wore a form-fitting black jumpsuit and a gray utility belt along with it. "I was told that my grandmother once dressed like this, even wore a wig similar to this one when she first came to Japan. I wanted to emulate her as when she was younger, because I respect her so much."

"Then it's not really a costume, is it...?"

"A costume can be whatever you want it to be, Nico. There's hardly any rules." Eri shook her head.

"What do you think about me, Nicochi? Do I look sexy enough?" Nozomi cackled. Nico gasped, placed her arms instinctively over her chest, and ran behind Maki for protection. Nozomi shook her head, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Using your girlfriend, your YOUNGER girlfriend, as a shield, Nicochi? Bad form. Bad form."

"W-What are you? A zombie or something?"

Nozomi grinned. "No, a Chinese Vampire! A Jiang-Shi!" The purplette reached up and slipped a hand out of her long, decorated sleeve, tugging at the piece of paper dangling from her cap. "I'm dressed as a Chinese monster! I always thought of them as one of my favorite parts of spooky Chinese myths. You must have seen one of these in an anime or something before, right, Nicochi?"

"I...I have...but why would you want to dress as something like that? And I'm a Vampire too! We can't have TWO vampires in our group!"

"Heh heh heh heh, I'm not your average vampire, Nicochi!" Nozomi made groping motions in the air with her fingers as she slowly approached the two girls, "I don't hunger for blood or even brains...I hunger...for boobs!"

"Eep!"

Eri shook her head. "Honestly, Nozomi..."

"M-Maki, come on, let's go back to Rin and Hanayo! I'm sure they won't try to molest us or anything!"

"Uh...okay..."

Suddenly, before the situation had any chance of becoming more heated, a third voice entered the fray. "Hey! Hey hey hey! I found you guys! Hey! Wow! Your costumes look great! Whoa, you make an awesome goat prince, Nico!"

Honoka lifted the face section of her helmet and flashed the other girls a weary grin. "H-Hey...sorry that I'm late...hope I didn't miss much."

"Honoka, that costume..." Eri stared.

"Heh heh heh, it's not all that much, but it looks really cool, doesn't it? I bought this mask from a toy store, by the way." Honoka took a little twirl. She wore a dark red trench coat that hung down to the floor, and simple white shirt and black pants, men's clothes that were a tad too big for her. What truly stood out was the mask, something a little mixed between sci-fi and steampunk, with red glass eyes that seemed like they would fire off a pair of lasers at any moment. It probably would have made Hanayo tremble in fright once she saw it. Honoka reached up and pulled the face plate back down.

"...You've been watching too many American movies too. What's with all of you guys? In case you have all forgotten, we're Japanese!" Nico shook her head, utterly dismayed at the stupidity of a girl only a year younger than her and apparently the centerpiece of their idol group. But she was also talking about Rin, and to a smaller extent, Eri too. She was pretty sure the blonde's statement about her grandmother was just an excuse to dress as another American super-hero. Then again, Nico shouldn't have talked; she wasn't exactly displaying her roots any more than they were with her costume.

"It felt a lot more like one of our shows to me. Didn't you hear how much they talked about friendship?" Honoka replied.

"I didn't go see it! Why did you?"

"I thought the Japanese dub looked interesting! Even I can enjoy a foreign film now and then, Nico!"

Umi and Kotori followed up close behind the leader of their little trio. Umi's hair had been changed from blue to a dark red that became gradually brighter the further along the locks it went, and her skin was a bright shade of green all over, and her uniform, which seemed to cling to her body like a second skin, did not help matters for the normally introverted young woman. She was clearly unnerved by her costume, moving one arm up and down over her chest like she was rubbing at a stain, afraid someone in the crowd might accidentally catch a glimpse of the very tiny amount of cleavage she was forced to show off. Kotori had painted her face so that it resembled a raccoon's markings, along with wearing a headband that made it appear that she had animal ears. She wore a black and orange jumpsuit and carried a fake sci-fi gun in her hands too.

"You guys too?" Nico arched an eyebrow. "Man, and I thought Nozomi's costume was bad..."

"Nicochi!"

"I-It was Honoka who wanted us to dress like this! She insisted!" Umi cried in her defense.

"Oh, but you still went along with it, Umichi! How sweet of you!"

"Guh..."

"I had fun making the costumes, even if they didn't require as much effort in the little details as I thought!" Kotori spoke up, just so she could get a word in. She wiggled her nose, making the illusion that the 'whiskers' on her face were moving as well. Honoka flipped open her toy mask over and over while Nico just silently stood there and fumed, like she wanted to reach out and slap the second-year across the face. Instead, she swiped the mask's face plate, causing the idol group's center to shriek.

Maki squeezed her lover's hand. If she didn't say something soon, they'd never get the chance to be properly alone.

"Nico!"

"Eh? What is it?" Nico tossed Honoka back her plastic mask and turned to the redhead. "What's wrong?"

Maki heaved a sigh. "I want to talk to you privately."

"What? Private...ly?" Nico's eyebrows looked like they were about to take off from her brow and go flying into space, from how high they raised. She was obviously over-thinking Maki's relatively innocent statement, but then again, that was what hormones did to some people.

"Yes, just for a little bit."

Nico's cheeks burned hotter than a jack-o-lantern's candle. "You...you want to go...into one of the empty classrooms, then?"

"That would be fine."

"Okay, you guys, Maki and I are going to go check out the rest of the party!" Nico quickly told the other Muses, a rushed excuse to be sure, but a successful one, as they all immediately bought it and resumed chatting among each other. Nico and Maki hurried off, practically swimming their way through the violent currents of people that surrounded them. Maki continued to hold Nico's hand; she could feel the beads of sweat already beginning to form. Maki smiled. Her Nico really was quite cute, a real handful too. She was feeling exceptionally generous tonight, she realized. She would indulge in her girlfriend's whims for a little while before springing the truth on her, if it would help make a more comfortable atmosphere to divulge secrets.

"Honoka, you guys came! Why didn't you text us, nya!" Rin and Hanayo hurtled themselves past a pair dressed as Gundam robots and landed on their feet in front of the rest of the crew. Kotori gave them a clap of applause in appreciation of their outfits, and the two first-years bowed their heads in gratitude.

"This is becoming more like a cosplay event than a costume party!" Eri joked.

"Don't you think the two are actually quite similar?" asked Nozomi, taking a sip from her cup.

"Hmm...I suppose you might have a point..."

Rin was especially fascinated by Honoka's and Umi's outfits. "Wow, so you really did dress up as them, nya! You weren't joking around!"

Honoka beamed. "Nope!"

"I really don't know what Honoka was thinking, suggesting a get-up like this. This was a whole different level from simply putting on a dress like for our Lives. It took a very long time to cover myself green like this, although it's not everywhere. I'm actually still normal-looking underneath all of these clothes." explained the former bluenette.

"That's cute that you would dress up like that together, almost like a couple, nya!"

Honoka and Umi glanced at one another, and the temperature within their faces seemed to increase by a multitude of degrees, to the point where any careful observer could have potentially witnessed the thin wafts of steam that was gushing out of their ears as a result. Tearing their eyes away from each other seemed to take actual, physical effort beyond simply turning their heads. Kotori, wearing a particularly eerie smile, stepped up behind them, appearing into view like an esper, materializing out of thin air.

"What are you three talking about?" she inquired to know.

"N-N-Nothing, Kotori! Nothing at all!" Umi cried, and Honoka repeated her in agreement. Kotori continued to smile, but it was an empty smile, as fragile as glass, yet her true emotions were still completely hidden to everyone around her, although they had a pretty good idea what her mood was.

Suddenly, any and all further conversation was stopped and forgotten as the lights above began to dim. In fact, all of the lights in the gymnasium did, except for those over the stage. Soon enough, all of the lights converged into a single shining circle in the center of the stage. That was when the music began to play, a familiar melody that grew louder and louder over time, and Honoka let out a gasp. She definitely recognized that song. Everyone in Muse did.

"That's...That's Start Dash, isn't it? That's one of our songs!"

"Do they expect us to start performing right here and now? We didn't even know this would happen!" Umi exclaimed, and she whipped her head in Kotori's direction. "Did your mother tell you anything about this, Kotori?"

Kotori shook her head. "No, she didn't say a word! I...I don't know why she would allow this...!"

"Wait a minute! Look! Someone is on the stage already!" Nozomi remarked, pointing at the three figures that had emerged from behind the curtains.

It was Honoka, Umi and Kotori.

Or rather, at first glance, it appeared to be very similar to them. The same hair and even the same outfits from that Live, but the eyes and the faces, the bodies themselves, were completely different. Umi was taller and lankier than she'd ever been, Kotori had even softer features than how pillow-like she already was, and Honoka was the shortest of the trio, despite that being far from the truth in reality. They said nothing to the audience, but instead offered them a courteous bow. This mysterious green-eyed Honoka was holding a mic in her hand, and when she started to sing, swaying gently back and forth in rhythm, that Honoka and the others understood.

"It's A-Rise...!" Eri cried.

"They...they dressed up as us for Halloween...and now they're singing our very first song...?" Kotori asked aloud.

"They already know all of the words, and they probably know the dance moves as well." Hanayo sounded like she was witnessing an act of unfiltered, uncontrolled violence before her very eyes.

Rin threw her hands in the air. "Game over, nya! Game over!"

"Honoka, this is going too far, don't you think?" Umi asked as she looked to see their leader's reaction.

Honoka, however, was completely enthralled with the performance. She looked as if she were close to weeping. "A-Rise...dressed as us...singing one of our songs...this has got to be the greatest day of my life..."

The green-eyed Honoka's gaze met with the real Honoka, and she gave her a playful wink. It made Honoka's heart go aflutter, while Umi looked about ready to pounce.

"Damn it, Honoka!"


	2. Chapter 2

Nico stuck her hands in her mouth as she desperately tugged at the fake vampire teeth clinging to her upper-jaw. Just when she finally wanted to remove them to give her girlfriend some proper smooching, they had decided that they would actually fulfill what they were designed for and stick to her teeth. It was like trying to rip a firmly placed band-aid, it was a lot harder than it sounded. Maki sat atop one of the school desks while watching her, thoroughly unamused and feeling like some of the initial excitement had since died down from having to wait so long. She crossed and uncrossed her slender legs several times.

"You're sticking your fingers in your mouth again," the redhead remarked.

"I'm trying to take off these damn teeth!" Nico cried. "They won't...they won't come out...!"

"Are you serious? Nico, they were practically falling out of your mouth when we were walking to the party!"

"I know! I know! Argh, and it's the worst timing too!"

"Do you want me to help you?" Maki asked.

Nico imagined the act of Maki sticking her slender fingers inside her mouth, and the hormonally charged third-year knew that was the last thing she should have been letting herself get distracted by. "I'll be ready in a moment...! Really!"

Maki climbed off of the desk. "Look, Nico, I can help you,"

Nico tugged harder and harder, like she was trying to remove an actual tooth. "H-Hold...on..."

"Nico!" Maki raised her hand. She held her hand out, palm open, and the tips of her fingers started to tremble. She quickly tore her arm back a second later, as if she'd suddenly placed her hand upon an invisible hot stove. Maki stared at her fingers, the fingers she used to play the piano, to write music, to perform that stupid 'nico-nico-nii' hand-sign. She'd done so many things with these fingers, things she wouldn't even admit aloud in her own head, but now she felt like something was about to happen that not even she could control. Her mother was right; it did seem to be stronger at night.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pop, and the vampire teeth tumbled to the floor. Nico breathed a sigh of utter relief.

"Oh, thank God," she thanked the man above in English, "I thought that I would be stuck living the rest of my life with plastic fangs...I'm never wearing those things again!"

"That would have ruined your idol image for sure," Maki remarked with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah," Nico wiped her mouth on her cavat and turned to her lover. "Still, I'm all ready now!"

Maki smiled. She approached Nico and wrapped her arms around her, embracing the smaller girl. Nico flashed her own cheeky grin.

"You sure you want to do this? I mean, you asked, but I'm pretty sure the others would rather want to know why we aren't partying with them!" Nico asked, even though she made it quite clear from the way she said it that she didn't have any intention of letting their plans change now after going through all of that trouble.

"You wanted to do it too, though...!" Maki cried.

"Heh heh, calm down, you dummy," Nico stood up on her tip-toes and kissed Maki's lips. "I was just kidding around."

Maki puffed her cheeks and grumbled a little, but a few more kisses from the shorter girl were able to soothe the tsundere before she could complain again. They resumed kissing, sweet and gentle kisses that just barely fluttered off of their lips, and Maki held onto Nico's arms, giving them a squeeze. She tried to be as careful as possible to avoid leaving any sort of mark, even as her nails pushed into the skin through her sleeves. Nico didn't mind in the slightest.

When they eventually moved their lips apart, that pesky thing called oxygen requiring their attention once again, Maki looked her lover straight in the eye. She wasn't going to put it off any longer, no matter how badly she wished she could have kept kissing this girl and put everything else behind her.

"There's something I've been wanting to tell you, Nico."

* * *

><p>Honoka and the others approached as the false Muse finished their song, waving to the cheering crowd as they stepped off of the stage. The green-eyed Honoka reached up and removed her wig, revealing herself as Tsubasa. She was already wearing a shit-eating grin before the true Honoka even spoke to her.<p>

"Tsubasa, what are you and Erena and Anju doing here?" Honoka asked.

"We heard that your school was holding a Halloween party, and that anyone was allowed to come. I wanted to surprise you, since I knew you'd be here." Tsubasa explained. "I got permission from the principal to perform here as well, but I wanted this dress-up to be a fun little surprise! Did you enjoy the show?"

"So my mom did have something to do with it." Kotori remarked.

Umi stepped forward, crossing her arms, both to display her anger and to hide her cleavage. "Why couldn't you have just performed as A-Rise? You didn't need to dress up like us or use one of our songs!"

"We didn't mean anything insulting by it." Erena replied.

Anju nodded in agreement. "We were only kidding around! We're all friends, though, aren't we? Even though we're rival idol groups, we've been more than happy to help you out in the past, eh?" the fluffy member of the three-girl group offered her cutest wink, and Umi sighed.

"No, I suppose...I suppose I might have been a bit too quick to snap. I apologize."

"Now, then, come and give me a hug!" Anju opened her arms wide.

Umi jerked back, surprised by this, and she felt a hot blush streak across her face, although her 'green' skin kept it hidden. Kotori also looked rather unhappy about the prospect. It was more so in the vein that she would make quick use of any pointy object in her vicinity if Anju dared to try and push herself any further onto the innocent Umi, especially while dressed like Kotori herself. Well, no, she wouldn't go as far as to harm someone, but Kotori certainly didn't appreciate it. Erena stepped in between Anju and the bluenette.

"A-Anju, .not everyone is as 'touchy' as you are." Erena reminded her.

Anju shrugged, but she backed off nonetheless. "I hardly meant any harm. I simply thought Umi was being adorable and I wished to show her my appreciation for accepting the existence of our friendship. Is that so wrong, Erena?"

"You know you're just doing it to make her uncomfortable."

"Oh, of course not!"

"I-It's okay, really." Umi replied, looking a little shaken but no less worse for wear. Kotori quickly calmed herself as well.

"Honoka, I like your costume! Nice choice! You look good in a trench coat!" Tsubasa reached out and playfully tugged at Honoka's coat.

"Heh heh, thanks, Tsubasa!" Honoka could not have been more genuine in her gratitude. She looked at the leader of A-Rise with a sparkle in her eye, but it was a light that Tsubasa seemed to miss, whether subconsciously or not.

Umi watched this and fumed to herself, while Kotori fumed over Umi fuming. This wasn't even a love triangle or a love rectangle, it was simply a straight line of several unrequited loves, over and over.

Eri looked around. "Just how long are Maki and Nico going to be gone...?"

"We might have lost them, nya! To the aliens!"

"Rin, are you still going on about that?" Hanayo asked, a sweat-drop running down the side of her head.

"Oh, it might have just been me. I've already taken them back to my lair for groping later! Nicochi is a little lacking in the chest area, but Maki isn't bad at all, he he he...! Now, maybe I should take you two next!" Nozomi cackled ominously from behind her sleeve, making the two first-years cower away from her.

"Nozomi, knock it off!" Eri chastised her girlfriend.

"B-But really, where are those two, nya?" exclaimed Rin.

"Should we go and check up on them?" suggested the Rice Goddess.

Nozomi had a knowing little grin on her face. "No...I think those two...would like to be alone for a while."

* * *

><p>"What did you want to tell me?" Nico asked.<p>

Maki sighed. "It's...not easy to explain."

Nico wanted to either keep kissing or return to the party with the others, not let herself be dragged into a potentially serious and most likely downer conversation, but she couldn't possibly turn her own girlfriend away right now either. "What is it, Maki?" she asked.

Maki looked over at the classroom door, as if she was expecting someone to come in and interrupt their discussion at the very last minute. A part of her wished for that to happen, while the other part told her that it was finally time. She'd decided she would tell her, and to back out, to cower away from the truth and leave Nico in the dark, would have been cowardly as well as unfair for the other girl.

"It's about my father, sort of. Well, about him and I, that is." Maki said.

"Your dad? You don't talk much about him, but what's there to say about him? Maki, it kind of ruins the mood when you suddenly start talking about your parents!" Nico cried.

"My dad...he's not...argh, I don't even know how to word this in a way that's going to make sense!"

Nico cocked her head. "I don't really get it, Maki."

"I'm sorry, Nico, I'm trying to think of the right thing to say," Maki ran a hand through her hair, exhaling. She felt like she was standing in the middle of a sauna all of the sudden, an oddly-placed heat flash in the middle of the night in fall.

"Come on, you know how to play a piano damn well, you can probably string words together properly! Tell me what you want to say, Maki!"

Maki stamped her feet, growing increasingly flustered, even though she knew quite well that becoming mad would only make things harder for her to explain. "I've been coming to terms with some things lately that you really need to know about...!"

"Maki, you're starting to scare me a little." Nico shook her head. "What's going on? Why did you bring up your dad? What's wrong with you? Did he...do something to you?"

"He made me." Maki said.

"W-What...? Well, of COURSE he made you, Maki! What is going on here?"

Maki couldn't hold back. She shouted, "The thing that's weird is, he shouldn't have made me! By all accounts, I was born without an actual father! I saw the records, Nico!"

"Uh...Maki...?"

"Why do you think I look so much like my mother?" Maki was starting to talk even faster. She had prepared to tell Nico everything for a while now, and she had thought she could have done it in a calm, sensible manner. She had even practiced for this before in the bathroom mirror. Yet now, in the moment of fate, she had completely dropped her marbles and went at it like a maniac claiming that aliens were hiding behind the moon. For some reason, Maki couldn't stop herself. The shadows began to twist and ripple at her feet.

"I...I don't know...?" Nico asked. She'd seen Maki's mother before, she was quite pretty.

"I know I had a dad...but...but it wasn't the normal way that parents have kids, you know...? Like, my mom had me practically on her own, out of nowhere, she got pregnant. It seems that way, from what I could find. There's no record of my father being there, and then she got the job that she'd always dreamed of, being director of an entire hospital...it's really hard to explain, alright?"

Nico sighed. She didn't really want to kiss anymore. She wanted to go back to the party. "Maki, come on, I think we should just spend some time with the others, they're probably wondering where we are."

"Nico! I need you to know this about me...!" Maki exclaimed. "I remember being with my dad before, I do...I remember his voice and I remember him holding me...but I can't remember his face! I never thought about it much before, but isn't it weird, how I can't remember his face?"

"Maki, you're being...a little..." Nico stepped forward, to grab her shoulder, take her hand, anything that would get her to stop. She started to reach her own hand out to the younger girl, not really considering what sort of potential danger she could possibly be getting herself in.

"Nico, please! All you have to do is listen!"

Maki took Nico's hand by the wrist, holding it completely still through pure strength alone. Yet it was a strength that Nico could not particularly recall her girlfriend ever possessing before. The third-year could neither move her hand closer nor pull it away. It was like it had been completely frozen in mid-air, the longer that Maki continued to hold onto it. The pressure around her wrist was beginning to cause some pain as well.

"M-Maki..."

The redhead took a deep breath, shut her eyes, collected herself, and opened them again. She quietly released Nico's hand and offered a small apology under her breath, which Nico just as quietly accepted. The two girls stared back at each other for a moment of silence.

"Are you alright? I mean, really, Maki? What's gotten into you tonight!" Nico put her tiny hands onto her equally tiny hips. "You're acting completely crazy! I've never seen you do anything like this before! Just calm down and explain to me, fully, what it is that you want to say. And I promise...this time, I'll listen and try to help you figure this out."

Maki sighed.

"I think there might be something wrong about me, Nico. Haven't you ever noticed?" she said.

"Noticed what? There's nothing wrong with you at all-" Nico began.

Maki didn't really want to have to say it, but she knew she had to, if she was ever going to get her point across. "Haven't you noticed just how overly perfect I am?"

"I...uh..."

Nico stopped. Her eyes widened. She'd never honestly thought about it that way before, but it did seem to make some kind of sense, in a horrifyingly obvious sort of way. Maki was absolutely beautiful for a first-year high school student, not a single hair or blemish out of place. She was incredibly wealthy, with both a beach house and a mountain house to use whenever she pleased. She had a successful career to inherit as a hospital director waiting for her after she'd graduated from college in the future. She was smart and unable to turn people down, even if she acted displeased about it for show. She was a skillful pianist, practically a master already, and fully capable of writing pieces of music to accompany their songs with very little trouble, and she could sing and dance with just as much talent, as accomplished as any other member of their idol group. She was incredibly popular with a majority of their fans, consistently ranking high in the popularity polls if not out-right achieving first place most of the time. She had a 'tsundere' side to her, but many people would consider that a charm point as well.

"You really ARE perfect!" Nico shrieked.

"I know! Nico, don't yell that out loud, though! I-It's embarrassing...!"

"There's nothing wrong with you at all! How can that be possible?" Nico cried, but then she asked, "Wouldn't that be a good thing, though?"

Maki shook her head. "I think there's something even more serious going on here, then just me being perfect...or my dad being basically non-existent..."

"Yeah, you never really explained what you meant by that either," Nico pointed out.

"I think my dad...he might be...some sort of demon or monster or something...maybe." Maki said all of this like she didn't really believe any of it herself, and honestly, she didn't know how she had ever managed to convince herself to mostly believe it in the first place. "Too many weird things happened because of him. I was basically born without a father, and I only ever see him now and then, but I can't remember his face, and everyone around me just acts like he's always been there. My mom refuses to tell me much, so I think she's in on this whole thing too. I wanted to tell you all of this because I trust you, Nico, and if we're going to be together, you deserve to know this too...okay?"

Nico thought about it. In a way, that may have actually made sense to her. After all, what kind of normal father would let their child believe in the lie of Santa Claus for this long, anyway? But then again, he would have been a metaphorical monster. To suddenly be expected to believe that the stories and myths of ancient, otherworldly creatures watching over humanity were actually all true was too much for the super idol Nico-Nico-Nii to swallow. Still, she wanted to believe in Maki, as much of a eye-opener as tonight had turned out to be, so she offered her another chance. How could she possibly send away a girl who was saying all of this with such a pitiful look in her eyes?

"...Is there anything else you wanted to tell me, Maki?"

The redhead nodded. "It's the last thing, to make sure you know that I'm not lying. Can you give me your hand, Nico?"

Nico held out her hand yet again. This time, Maki took it into her own and gave it a simple squeeze, far more gentler than before. Nico smiled, but then she felt like something, like a spider inside her own skin, was starting to crawl up the length of her arm. Her blood began to chill, a prickling sensation starting to make the very muscles in her arm ache and go numb. She'd never felt anything like this in her entire life, it was such an unnatural feeling. If it wasn't a spider, it was like something had snipped a hole in her skin and slipped a rubber glove inside, tugging at her tendons and her bones. She could feel that hand reaching out through her shoulder and caressing her cheek, so softly, like Maki herself had done in one of their most intimate moments. Yet there was no love in this corporeal touch. It incited only terror in her soul.

Nico bit down on her lower lip, hard enough to nearly break the skin.

"Do you feel it?" Maki asked.

Nico trembled. She wanted to tear her hand out of Maki's, but she knew that, if she did that, it would possibly hurt the redhead more than it would herself. "I...I do feel it..."

Maki released Nico's hand, and the third-year was eternally grateful.

"I'm sorry for doing that, but I needed to show you that I'm not lying about any of this. I...I become a little stronger at night, it seems." Maki said.

Nico briskly nodded. "Y...Yeah..."

"It's been getting stronger since I've been getting older. Normally, I can control it well enough, but on nights like this, it starts to awaken."

"...O-Oh..."

Maki took notice of just how deathly pale her lover looked right about now, and she honestly felt a little bad for springing this much stuff on her. "Nico, do you want to sit down for a moment?"

"Yes...yes, that would be good..."

"I can get you something to drink...if you want."

"...C-Can you? Please? Nico-Nico smile please?"

"...You don't have to do anything like that to get me to do it for you..."

* * *

><p>Umi watched on as Honoka and Tsubasa danced together and exchanged idle chit-chat, the barbed wire of jealousy digging its spikes deep into her poor little heart.<p>

"Hmm, it seems that there may be some love-induced animosity between members of our happy little family, Erichi," Nozomi remarked. In turn, while Umi was observing Honoka, she was being looked on with utter pity by the two motherly third-years of Muse.

Eri nodded. "Umi is afraid to talk about her feelings most of the time, but she's still awful at hiding them. Honoka is so dense, she'd probably never notice on her own that one of her best friends has feelings for her."

"No, of course she wouldn't. Even worse, Umi's too much like a girl from the old days, raised on conservative values, to ever come out and properly admit she's attracted to another woman, at least not without some help~!" Nozomi remarked and she offered a wink to the blonde.

"I don't think we should really interfere, Nozomi. This is an issue between Honoka and Umi."

"What? You don't want to help your underclassmen? Your beloved fellow idols? Erichi!"

"I-It's nothing like that! I just think that...um, matters of the heart...well, they deserve to be kept privately between the two people, unless, of course, things got out of hand...but I don't think it will, since Umi is a very sensible person despite her quirks, and Honoka, she'd understand how to respond to Umi once she finds out...and, um, yes, that's about my opinion on the matter!"

Nozomi, however, wasn't so easily fooled, and she was even a little offended that her girlfriend of so long had even tried such a stunt at all. "Erichi, you were really didn't convince me with your words right now. You sounded quite unsure of yourself the entire way."

Eri grimaced. She reached up and straightened the red wig on her head. The surrounding temperature inside the gymnasium suddenly seemed to spike by several degrees for her.

"Are you sure you don't want to try and help them?" Nozomi nudged her in the rib.

"If we help them out like we've helped them with dancing and homework, they'll never learn on their own."

"Ah, back to sounding like a responsible adult again! I see what you're doing there, Erichi. But I understand, we won't try to help them, at least not right now."

"Good, I'm glad you understand. Oh, and Nozomi?" Eri said.

"Hmm?"

"Can you get me something to drink, please? I feel a little stuffy in this outfit."

Nozomi grinned from ear to ear, and she pulled back the seal dangling from her jiang-shi hat to show off her toothy grin. "Of course! I'll be right back!"

As Nozomi walked away, Eri took a chance to look for the other members of Muse spread out among the other party-goers. She didn't know where Kotori had gone, Nico and Maki were still missing as well, but Rin and Hanayo were dancing alongside the other A-Rise members Anju and Erena, and they seemed to be having a good time in each other's company. However, the Rice Goddess was beginning to struggle under the weight of carrying a plastic rice bucket with her wherever she went.

Nozomi ran into Kotori over at the punch bowl.

"Oh, little raccoon! There you are! Why are you hiding over here, looking so sullen?" Nozomi teased. She raised up her hands and made a groping motion in the air. "Does someone need a little squeeze to help cheer them up?"

Kotori clasped a hand over her breasts as she took a step back. "N-No, I'm...I'm okay!" Then she frowned. "Well, no, not really, I'm not entirely okay."

"What's wrong?" Nozomi asked.

Kotori looked away. "Um, it's a little embarrassing,"

"You can tell me! Come, bury your face in my bosom and tell Mama Nozomi all of your woes!"

"Heh heh, uh, thank you, but, but it's not a big deal. I can handle it on my own, I think...really!"

Nozomi was honestly shocked, and she made it known with her slack-jawed expression. "Kotori! You're so terrible at lying! You're even worse than Erichi! I can't believe it!"

"O-Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, please don't grope me! I...I just feel bad..."

"Feel bad?"

"For Umi." Kotori explained. Now that she'd started, she didn't think she could stop from going on about it. "I can tell how much she likes Honoka, she's even told me in her usual Umi-like way, but Honoka is such a...a dummy, and she's too wrapped up in her love for Tsubasa to ever notice how it's hurting one of her best friends."

"It seems like it hurts you, too." Nozomi remarked.

Kotori sighed, nodding. "I care about Umi a lot...like how she cares about Honoka...but I don't think I'd ever be good enough to replace her. Especially when Honoka is still my best friend."

Nozomi suddenly had an idea. It was true that Eri had instructed her not to interfere with Umi or Honoka on the matter of their love-lives, but that didn't mean she couldn't still meddle a little by offering any number of helpful suggestions to a third party in play. Oh Eri, she had no idea how loose of a leash she was holding on her girlfriend.

"Kotori, you really should go and try to talk to Umi. Maybe even just comfort her, since she looks so down! Why, look around you! We're at a party with all of our friends and the rest of the school! We're dancing and eating and wearing funny costumes! This is no time to be sad~!" Nozomi gave the raccoon-faced girl a nudge and giggled madly.

"Hmm...I guess you're right...but...but Umi doesn't want me..." Kotori tried to wave it off.

"I think anyone would appreciate having a good friend at their side." Nozomi said. "Wouldn't you?"

Kotori looked back at Umi, who had been standing there for some time, barely moving to the beat of the music, her head perpetually turned in the direction of Honoka, who was beginning to walk further away into the crowd with Tsubasa in tow. With her looking away like that, Kotori couldn't see the bluenette's face, but she could imagine just how painful it must have been for her. Kotori glanced to Nozomi, who simply nodded and winked. Kotori took in a deep breath, prayed for courage from the Gods above, and walked over to Umi.

"Umi? Are you alright?"

"I shouldn't be angry, or sad, or even feeling any of this nauseating discomfort in the pit of my stomach." Umi said.

"Umi, it's okay..."

"I don't really like how it feels, Kotori. Honoka won't stop tugging at my heart-strings."

"Umi! Look at me!"

Umi turned. Kotori caught her in the hug. "If there's anything you really want to say, you can tell me everything! I'll listen to all of it, and I won't interrupt! I promise!"

Stunned at first, the green-skinned girl eventually returned the embrace. "Thanks, Kotori. And I'm sorry. I let my anger get ahead of me again."

Kotori held Umi a little tighter. "...It's okay..."

Nozomi beamed from the punch bowl. She couldn't wait to go back and rub this all in Eri's face. She glanced down at her breasts. She wondered what the half-Russian blonde would say if she happen to rub THESE in her face too...

"Ah, Nozomi."

Maki grabbed a pair of water bottles from the refreshment table. Nozomi was quick to make a comment.

"Where have you been, Maki? You and Nicochi having fun in the classroom?"

"Bwah! N-Nozomi...! No, of course we're not doing anything like that! We're...we're having a very serious talk!"

Nozomi chuckled. "Sure, sure. Go and tend to Nicochi. We'll be waiting for you lovebirds to rejoin us eventually."

"Geez!"

* * *

><p>"Your face is red," Nico remarked when she saw that Maki had returned with the water bottles.<p>

"It's nothing!" Maki snapped. She handed the bottle over to Nico, who made a conscious effort not to accidentally touch her girlfriend's hand, just in case she experienced that horrible sensation from earlier again. Maki noticed, and it somehow made her feel a little sad.

The two of them sat in opposing desks in silence, quietly sipping their water and staring off into space. Maki didn't know what to say. Nico didn't either, but she knew she had to be the first to say something, because it was her answer that was going to decide what ultimately happens next between them.

"You think your dad is something...evil?" Nico asked.

"He could be. Like, otherworldly evil. I mean, I would have thought he might have been a high-ranked politician or a yakuza boss or something, but when these powers started up, and I realized how unnaturally perfect I am, and his weird absence despite everyone acting like he's always been around...I don't know what to think."

Nico drank from her water bottle again. She just wanted to be a successful idol. She'd never wanted to get involved with demons, or even know that demons actually existed, or even date a girl who was apparently a demon's child. Yet here she was. As if things were bad enough already, getting groped by Nozomi all the time while having no chest.

"I think I might start changing in more ways as I get older." Maki said.

"Really?"

"I didn't use to have these powers, I'm sure of it. I don't remember ever being able to do that while touching someone when I was a child. Honestly," Maki wrapped her arms around herself, "I'm scared, Nico. I wanted to tell you because you're my g-girlfriend, and I...I trust you enough...but if you don't believe me about any of this, then that's okay. I understand."

Maki's voice was shaking as well; she wasn't lying, she was really scared, it was obvious to tell. Nico put her water bottle aside. She knew what she had to do. Time to break out the big guns, so to speak.

"Oh, Maki~!"

"What?"

"Nico-Nico-Nii!" Nico started to perform the entire routine. "I'll Nico-Nico-Ni straight to your heart! I'm Yazawa Nico-Nico and I'll put a smile in your heart! Remember, I'm Nico-Ni, and I love-Nico you!"

"W-W-What was that about? Love-Nico...? What are you saying? I'm trying to be serious here, Nico!"

"What's wrong? You're smiling right now, aren't you?"

Maki gasped. Even when she had been yelling at the other girl, she had been wearing a smile on her lips. How did that get there?

"Struck your heart in one shot of my Nico-Nico Love Bow~!"

"Will you cut it out! C'mon!"

Nico shrugged her shoulders. "Maki, I never knew you could be so melodramatic, talking like you're the anti-christ or something. It's not very becoming for a lovely young girl like yourself. Why can't you just go back to worshiping the number one idol Nico-Nii like you used to and be happy with that?"

"Nico...!" Maki was fuming at this point, but she was honestly having fun with it at the same time.

"You don't want to make Super Idol Nico-Nii sad, would you?"

Maki stared hard at the other girl. "Nico, why are you being so weird?"

"I'm trying to help you out here! You've forgotten something very important!" Nico got up and took Maki's hands into her own, an act that genuinely surprised both girls because it was so sudden, but this time Nico felt nothing but warmth in Maki's small, cute hands. "I'm reminding you that I'm the number one idol and you're her number one fan...and a fan's smile is the most important thing to an idol there is! A real idol like me would never stop loving her fans, no matter what!"

Maki started to weep. "Nico..."

Nico could have said she was terrified of Maki now. She could have yelled at her for keeping such an important secret, and even turned tail and run away on her without any explanation. But she didn't, because she actually cared, and loved, this girl too much to ever do such a thing. It would have been easier to end their relationship here and never have to consider the terrible future that could be awaiting them. She'd never been able to take the easy route in life before, though, so why start now?

Suddenly, the classroom door opened, and the two girls jumped apart so fast that Maki hit the back of her leg on the desk and tumbled over. Nico hurried to take her hand again.

"What are you two doing in here?" asked Principal Minami as she entered the room. She was dressed as a particular magical girl, in a long white skirt and a hair-style that didn't exactly fit a grown woman like herself. Followed just a few steps behind her, oddly enough, was a stranger wearing a full-body Godzilla costume.

"Principal! We were...umm...!"

"You two shouldn't be here. I have nothing against using the classroom for private discussions, but it's dangerous to be walking around in the school during night like this. You should be back at the gymnasium party with everyone else."

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"We're very sorry!"

Principal Minami nodded. "Go along. I am not taking down marks or anything tonight, so you're safe from being suspended for disobeying school rules this one time."

"Thank you very much!"

Nico and Maki darted out of the classroom as quickly as they were allowed. Running down the hallway, Maki took a moment to kiss her girlfriend full on the lips. Nico blushed.

"Thank you for sticking by me, Nico. I love you."

"N...Nico-Nico-Nii...she l-loves you too..."

Principal Minami turned to the Godzilla and shook her head. "It looks like she told her the truth, or at least how much she thinks is the truth anyway."

The Godzilla removed its head, revealing itself to be Maki's mother. "She was going to tell her friends eventually, like I told you, Minami."

"Still, is it alright for her to be this aware? Or for others to know?"

"My husband...I think he's been dropping these hints on Maki on purpose for a while now."

"Why do you think that is?" Principal Minami asked.

"He may be planning on paying us another visit. He's always so busy with work, that poor man. He rarely gets the chance to see his daughter, and he may be planning to have her take up the family business sooner than I thought."

"The REAL family business, right?" Principal Minami asked before realizing what she'd just done.

Miss Nishikino flashed her most pleasant smile. "Please, Miss Principal. I don't mind you being interested, but it's nothing that concerns you, although we do appreciate you being so helpful in looking over my daughter during her stay here. This, however, is simply a family matter. A private matter, to be exact."

"Oh...you're right..." even the principal was quick to cower, "Please forgive me for prying."

"It's alright, Minami." Miss Nishikino placed back on her Godzilla head. "Now let's go and party some more!"

"Why did you dress up like Godzilla anyway?"

"What can I say? I loved those movies when I was a little girl!"

* * *

><p>The rest of the night played out without any trouble. Kotori kept Umi company while Honoka spent the entire party talking with Tsubasa, eventually culminating with them exchanging phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Rin and Hanayo enjoyed themselves as well, even though Hanayo's arm hurt from carrying her prop and Rin lost her cool when faced by someone dressed as a phallic-headed alien. Eri gave Nozomi a chewing-out for interfering when she found out what her girlfriend did, but a few sensual, apologetic kisses convinced her that it wasn't such a big deal in the first place. Erena and Anju still didn't share as close of a relationship with Muse as their leader, they did want to get to know them better, and offered their own cell numbers, asking if they could all get together for group outings sometime. Principal Minami and her big lizard companion had fun too.<p>

In the end, no one seemed to know who everyone was dressed as, either.

When Nico finally returned home, it was quite late. She removed her sweat-stained cravat, washed the gel out of her hair in the bathroom, and tossed her useless vampire fangs and stuffy cape aside on a chair. Entering the living room, she found her three siblings fast asleep on the couch, fully dressed in costume. Kokoro was a kunoichi, Kokoa was a mummy and Kotarou was a Kamen Rider. Nico's mother walked in from the kitchen. She was wiping some kind of make-up off of her face. She had forgotten to remove the cat ears situated atop her head. Nor the cat tail on her rear.

"Oh, you're back! Just in time too! You can help me put them to bed, can't you, Nico?"

"Mama! What's going on?"

"One of your sister's friends was having a party at her place, so I took them over there, because they insisted. It seemed they'd had too much fun though, doesn't it?"

"You don't normally let them stay up this late." Nico remarked.

"They fell asleep as soon as they came home." Nico's mom chuckled. "They wanted to stay up to see you, but not even Kokoro could make it!"

Nico yawned. She had forgotten that she was so tired, after everything that had happened today. She'd gone with Maki back to her house and seen her off with a kiss goodnight and a promise to text her tomorrow. Aside from now knowing her girlfriend may have been Satan's spawn this whole time, she had seen her off like at the end of any other date, and she didn't feel nearly as bothered about it as she should have been right now, considering the circumstances. She think it may have to do with how utterly worn out she was.

"How was the school party? Did you and your friends have fun?"

Nico took a moment to think about it. She recalled the soft texture of Maki's lips as they pressed into her own, their breath intermingling, their saliva mixing together on the tips of their tongues. They held hands, and Nico felt a tingle, like a tiny needle prick, on the surface of her skin, but she ignored it, for Maki's sake. She ignored it in the best way possible, by kissing the redhead even deeper.

"It was a lot of fun, Mama."

However, as she aided her mother in lifting the slumbering siblings to bed, a truly scary thought emerged in Nico's brain: What would it be like when she had to eventually meet Maki's parents?

'Her mom might not be so bad, but her father...if he's really what Maki says he is...'

She made a mental note to prepare some holy water and crosses, just in case. Maybe even some shamanic beads.


End file.
